On Thursday, January 22, the Hollywood Neighborhood
Association and KeyBank came together to discuss the planned
destruction of the Pagoda Restaurant 3839 NE Broadway to make
way for a new bank. KeyBank rep Patrick Flanagan and land-use planner
Garrett Stephenson from Group Mackenzie announced upfront that the
Pagoda was a goner. Neighbors will now brainstorm ways to incorporate
the spirit of the colorful restaurant into the new bank.

Eve Weir, a hair stylist and Hollywood native, left the meeting in
tears. “The Pagoda is my favorite building in the city. It’s beautiful.
It’s just such a cool building, full of chintzy glamour,” she
told the Mercury. “It’s not just a Hollywood problem,” one
neighbor lamented, “it’s a Northeast problem. I don’t see why we need
another bank. We have seven.” Make that eight. LOGAN SACHON

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The Hollywood District is under consideration to be the new home of
a statue commemorating the 20th anniversary of The
Simpsons TV show. The proposed statue will be an
11-foot-long granite version of a plastic model that was created
as part of the ad campaign for The Simpsons Movie showing the
whole family on the couch with a space for guests and
picture-takers to join them. Early etchings from Simpsons creator and Portland native Matt Groening may line the back of
the couch.

“As the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Hollywood
Theatre, Film Action Oregon [FAO] views this as a wonderful tribute to
Mr. Groening, a member of the Portland creative community who
has done much to impact our national culture through his visual art,
literary, television, and film work,” says Ellen Bergstone Beer, FAO’s
executive director. LS

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Last weekend, installation of bulletproof glass windows began
in new Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman‘s corner
office at city hall, which faces onto SW 5th. Unlike Mayor Sam Adams,
Saltzman, who was given responsibility for the police bureau last
October, does not have a standing security detail accompanying
him at all times, so his office has been working with the cops to up
security, without Saltzman’s office having to pay for bodyguards out of the taxpayers’ pockets. Saltzman’s chief of staff, Brendan
Finn says: “We had a security review of our office when Dan became
police commissioner, and that was one of the recommendations, so we’re
moving forward with it.” MATT DAVIS